College and Career Ready =
Transition Focused
Education
Core Standards With a New Lens
Catherine H. Fowler
National Secondary Transition
Technical Assistance Center
Idaho Transition Cadre
October 2, 2013
Objectives
 Overview college and career readiness factors
 Consider alignment of evidence-based practices and
predictors within the Idaho Core Standards
 Resources
Reauthorizing NCLB/ ESEA
 “every student should graduate from high school
ready for college and a career, every student
should have meaningful opportunities to choose
from upon graduation from high school” President
Obama in Blueprint for Success, 2010
 The administration has a goal that by 2020, the U.S.
will return to having the highest proportion of
college graduates in the world
“old wine in new bottles”…sort of
Secondary Transition = College and
Career Ready
Purpose of Common Core
 The Common Core State Standards…
 only
include what is most essential for students
to know and be able to do in ELA and math
 are focused
 include both content and skills
 have a clear, logical progression of content and
skills from grade to grade
 are about student mastery, not content coverage
“Standards are not curriculum. This initiative is about
developing a set of standards that are common
across states. The curriculum that follows will
continue to be a local responsibility (or state-led,
where appropriate)” (CCSSO, 2012).
College Readiness
Enter ready to succeed in credit bearing
courses
CCSSO, 2010
…more College Readiness
 content knowledge
 critical thinking: problem formulation, research,
communication, accuracy
 learning strategies: test-taking, note-taking,
collaborative group skills, time management,
technology skills
 transition knowledge and skills: applications,
college culture, self-advocacy
Conley, 2010
…more
 behaviors
 mindsets: sense of belonging, ownership of
learning, self-awareness, perseverance, effort,
motivation, grit and tenacity!
 learning strategies
 social skills: interpersonal skills such as empathy,
cooperation, assertion, responsibility, accountability
Farrington, Roderick, Allensworth, Nagaoka, Keyes, Johnson, & Beechum (2012)
College Is
 4-year
 2-year
 Vocational, business, technical
 College-based transition programs
Students with Disabilities: Total
Enrollment – ’88 to ‘08
12.00%
10.00%
8.00%
6.00%
4.00%
2.00%
0.00%
1988*
1991*
1992-1993#
* = HEATH, 2001
#= IES/NCES
^ = NCES, Horn and Berktold
1994*
1995-1996^
1996*
1998*
2000*
2003-2004# 2007-2008#
Hart, Madaus, Dukes, 2013
Skills/ Attributes/ Behaviors and
College Success
 Academic preparation
 Knowledge of disability needs and early
communication (Lightner, 2012; Karp & Bork, 2012)
 Self-management (e.g., time, workflow, behavior)
 Communication skills
 Social integration/ participation (Mamisiseishvili &
Koch, 2010)
Hart, Madaus, Dukes, 2013
Current Data on College Ready
 In 2012, 67% of all high school graduates met the
English College Readiness Benchmark (ACT, 2012)
 25% of all high school graduates met readiness
benchmarks for English, Reading, Math, and Science
(ACT, 2012)
 36% of ALL first year undergrads took remedial
courses (NCES, 2012)
…and for students on IEPs
 50+% do not consider self to have disability (NLTS2,
2009)
 Many do not understand accommodations (e.g.,
personal needs, process for requesting; Getzel & Thoma,
2009 & Lightner, 2012)
 Student knowledge and skills do not match
professor/ college expectations (Karp & Bork, 2012)
Hart, Madaus, Dukes, 2013
Career Readiness
Common Core intends
to prepare students
for careers that:
1. Offer competitive,
livable salaries
above the poverty
line
2. Offer opportunities
for career
advancement
3. Are in a growing or
sustainable industry
CCSSO, 2012
Work ready = basic
expectations
(punctuality,
appropriate dress)
Job ready = specific
training necessary
Career ready = key
content knowledge
and key learning skills
and techniques
Conley, 2012
Skills/ Attributes/ Behaviors and
Employment Success
 Communication (giving and receiving information)
 Attitude/ enthusiasm
 Teamwork
 Networking
 Problem solving
 Professionalism (blending and applying above skills)
Office of Disability and Employment Policy (Skills to Pay the Bills, 2012)
Skills/ Attributes/ Behaviors in
Growing Industries
 Non-routine analytical (e.g., problem-solving, math
applications)
 Non-routine interactive (e.g., planning, selfawareness, self-monitoring)
 Non-routine manual (e.g., physical coordination,
agility)
Council of Economic Advisors, 2011
I choose C
Anxiety
“…While I like the idea of everyone in the
nation finally (with skepticism) being taught
and held to the same academic standards, I
wonder how that will have an impact on
students with exceptionalities…” (Richard,
on CEC blog)
Standards-Based Education
≠ Special Education?
 Need for standards
Standards
Transition
Writing
Employment
Reading
Life Skills
Math
SelfDetermination
Standardized
Individualized
 Individualized to
preferences,
interests, and
needs
 Shift as students
get closer to
graduation
Relevance
How do we insure that relevant,
transition-focused skills
(employment, independent living,
social, career planning, decision
making, self-advocacy, college
success) are taught as students
demonstrate progress in the
Idaho Core?
Reflect on Predictors and EBPs
 Self-determination and ELA standards
 Social skills using peer mediated
instruction*
 Application of knowledge in math
standards (and Science)
 Informational texts in English Language
Arts (and Social Studies and Science)
…
 Evidence based practices to teach
academic skills
 Evidence based practices to teach life
skills with some math and reading
components
 Technology skills and student
involvement in the IEP
…
Using Self-Management Instruction to
Teach:
• Academic Skills
• Social Skills
• Job Specific Skills
Using Self-Monitoring Instruction to
Teach:
• Functional Life Skills
…
 Embedding self-determination within
academic instruction and aligning with core
instruction
 Goal setting in teaching writing
paragraph or persuasive essay
 Self-awareness and self-advocacy
through research and presenting ideas
 Problem-solving applied in
mathematics, science, and other content
…more ideas (not necessarily EBPs)
 Discuss accommodations and provide
opportunities to request
 Note-taking strategies
 Time-management
Syllabus review
 Use technology





Clubs, extracurricular
College searches (including 529, etc.)
College 101/ orientation course
Career fair/ mock interviews
…more possibilities (not necessarily EBPs)
 Use vocabulary of accommodations and strategies






in class
Provide opportunities to negotiate
accommodations, assistance
Force to problem solve
Team/ peer projects
Career exploration
Work Based Experiences
Student-directed SOP
What do you do?
Example: ELA
Standard:
Reading: Key Ideas and
Details
Analyze how and why
individuals, events, and
ideas develop and
interact over the course
of a text.
Academic Context:
To Kill a Mockingbird
Real life Skill:
Self-Determination
Instruction:
Do a character study of Boo Radley. Analyze his relationships with other
characters (e.g., Scout and Jem). Identify how the relationship changes and
why including what makes him hide. Apply Boo’s situation to your own.
Explain how your disability/difference affects your life and potential
friendships.
Example: Math Transformations in the Plane
Slide
Rotation
Think Tank Activity
Be Intentional
 Understand the Idaho Core Standards
 Use student performance data (academic
and other)
 Which skills need to be taught to multiple
students?
 Remember – everyone’s focused on college
and career readiness
 What “transition-focused skills” need to be
taught to one student?
Be Intentional (contin.)
 Explicit instruction?
 Process (e.g., social skills through
collaborative groups, career knowledge
through online research)
 Make a plan
Universal Design for Learning
 Multiple means of representation
 Multiple means of expression
 Multiple means of engagement
Online Resources
 www.nsttac.org
 Evidence-Based Predictors, Predictor Resources
 Evidence Based Practices, Practice Descriptions Organized by
Skill Taught
 Evidence Based Practices, Lesson Plans, Student Development
Life Skills (self-determination components)
 101 on College and Career Readiness and 101 on Universal
Design for Learning
 www.ncwd-youth.info

411 on Disability, Skills to Pay the Bills
 www.ideapartnership.org

Community of Practice on Transition
Additional Resources
 www.corestandards.org – resources and current






information on the adoption and implementation
of the Common Core State Standards
www.cast.org
www.careertech.org
www.p21.org
www.ncwd-youth.org
http://www2.ed.gov/programs/racetothetopassessment/index.html
www.parcconline.org;
http://www.k12.wa.us/smarter/
Opportunity
Contact Me!
Catherine Fowler
chfowler@uncc.edu
704-687-8853
nsttacmail@uncc.edu
704-687-8606
www.nsttac.org